Rebecca (00:00.866)
Hello and welcome back to the Champagne Lounge podcast. If you're new to the show, this show is all about me talking to the members of the Champagne Lounge about who they are, what they do and why they love it. Today I'm talking to the wonderful Lisa George who runs Remote Team Queen. Welcome to the show, Lisa.
Lisa George (00:18.346)
Thank you very much, Becca. It's a pleasure to be here. I'm very excited.
Rebecca (00:23.178)
I'm very excited. For those of you that are watching the video recording, you'll see that Lisa's wearing a lot of sparker and that brings me joy at the time of recording this podcast. So Lisa, I've just said you were doing Remote Team Queen, which I know is an evolution of business for you because you've been in business for now nearly 20 years. What's your entrepreneurial journey been like? And just give us a quick rundown of what the last 20 years has been like for you.
Lisa George (00:30.206)
And me too.
Lisa George (00:50.018)
Well, I'm an occupational therapist by trade and I started my business, my own business, nearly 20 years ago as you've said. As a result of a personal situation, I was diagnosed with breast cancer in the year 2000, the late year 2000 and it caused me to rethink work and life and whether they work together or not.
And I guess for me at that time, I was working in a corporate environment. And I decided that I didn't really want to be doing that anymore. I wanted to have the flexibility of doing the things that gave my life joy. I think when you've had a significant health scare and you've sort of. Faced death in the face, I guess. You do.
Rebecca (01:41.944)
Okay.
Lisa George (01:43.434)
question what your life is about and whether you are living your life purpose. And I had the strange privilege of learning that lesson at the age of 27. And I call it a strange privilege because it's a mixed thing, isn't it? When you have a significant life scare like that and at such a young age but it teaches you very early in life when it happens to you early in life.
Rebecca (01:56.29)
Wow.
Lisa George (02:13.482)
that every day is a gift, that we do take a lot of things for granted, and it causes you to really question how you're spending your time and your energy. So for me, that was a real crossroads. And so I decided to leave corporate. They were unable to offer me the flexibility at that time, back in the year 2000. That wasn't something that was offered.
Rebecca (02:21.899)
Yep.
Rebecca (02:28.778)
Mm.
Lisa George (02:39.458)
And I set about to establish my own business from home. And in doing so, I began to enjoy the benefits of working from home and being able to work on my own terms. And then I decided that I would like to offer that to other people as well. And I realized that there were a number of therapists on the...
out there that were sitting at home, well not sitting at home, they were unable to return to their previous roles because they weren't being offered the flexibility either. So I gathered those people in my network together and offered them contracting arrangements and they were then able to enjoy the flexibility that I was enjoying and use their skills and still meet their other
Rebecca (03:16.831)
Yeah.
Lisa George (03:33.262)
life roles, whether that was bringing up children, looking after elderly parents, wanting to go to the gym, walking the dog, whatever really gave them pleasure in life while not having to be in a certain place at a certain time every day. So that's how that sort of started. And it's grown. It's grown from there. Other people caught on. They got wind of what I was doing.
Rebecca (03:51.058)
I love that. Yeah.
Lisa George (04:00.57)
It was a little bit strange at the time, there weren't a lot of people doing it. And so it has grown to a team of around 20 to 25 therapists depending what's happening at the time, but it's usually around the 20 to 25 mark. And we're a great team. We still work as a team, even though we all work remotely. Hmm.
Rebecca (04:17.694)
Amazing.
Rebecca (04:23.602)
Yeah, I think that's phenomenal. And you're way ahead of the curve, I think, in terms of that remote setup and having such a large team relatively early on, because I think working from home, really, it's only really been prevalent in a lot of organizations since COVID, because they were forced into it. So...
Lisa George (04:31.022)
such a large team relatively early on because I think working with them really...
Lisa George (04:40.106)
Correct. They were. They were. And they were forced with a bit of a jolt, weren't they? Very unprepared.
Rebecca (04:46.75)
Yeah, without all the stuff and systems in place and processes and comms plans and all of that kind of stuff, which I know you've developed over time to run your business to the level that it is now. What were the... were there, I suppose, I'm sure there would be any teething problems with working remotely in terms of the team, but also your clients understanding that's how your team works.
Lisa George (04:50.51)
Uh huh.
Lisa George (05:10.682)
Yeah, there was a real skepticism back then that I was not going to be able to offer the consistency and the quality of service. And I think it is about communication. Business is all about communication. You need to be really good at telling your customers.
who you are as an operator, how you do business, what's important to you as a business owner. And for me at that time, it was really important that I communicated with my customers that my concern was quality and consistency. And I knew that they were the things that they were struggling with. And I knew that they were the things that they were gonna be doubting this model about. So it was a matter of me trying to...
allay their fears and say, I know this looks strange, but we've got it, you know, we've got systems in place, we've got the ability to communicate across the team, we've got people in place that ensure that all the team operate the same way, we've got consistency of practice and we had quality assurance mechanisms in place to ensure that everything that went out the door.
looked the same, felt the same, had the same messaging. And it was just really important at that time when it was a very uncommon way of working, to be very clear that we did have systems and a way of working that would ensure that they got the outcomes and the quality that they were expecting from us. Also very important that a lot of that came, not only from the team members that were working with my customers,
but that they had a relationship with me as well, because quite a lot of the customers that I was getting referrals from, they were used to working with me. So I had to clone myself, I had to really be quite clear about my induction processes and what my expectations were and how I did things and the really clear guidelines about how we do things at Momentum and get them to adopt those ways of working.
Lisa George (07:22.378)
or engage people who already had that sort of philosophy as well. I think culture, team culture and ways of working are very much a focus for me when I'm when I'm recruiting. I can teach people skills, but I can't teach their attitude. I can't teach their personality. It's it's got to be a good fit. So I needed to be quite strategic as well when I was taking people on.
Rebecca (07:44.45)
Yeah.
Lisa George (07:48.702)
that they knew who I was, they knew what was important to me, and they were really aware of what the Momentum brand was and what our customers expected from us.
Rebecca (07:58.982)
Yeah, very much so. And I'm curious because you said you had to almost clone yourself, right? And that's one of the hardest things to bring on in terms of team is the hardest thing to build. I think most business owners can probably agree with that. Teams are the hardest thing to build and cloning yourself is really quite hard. Like in terms of, and I know a lot of people talk about, you want people that are different to you, rather than people that are exactly like you, so that the
Lisa George (08:04.435)
Mmm.
Lisa George (08:13.33)
Mm.
Lisa George (08:26.103)
Correct.
Rebecca (08:26.586)
you sort of stay at the top without having that power struggle with someone that could potentially be very similar in thinking, robust sort of ways of doing things, how did you navigate that element of building a team when you had to have clones of you from a servicing perspective for your clients, but also needing to stay at that top level to run the team successfully?
Lisa George (08:29.882)
with someone that could potentially be.
Lisa George (08:50.942)
So it's important that I put a level of management in place that was key to this process. Because when you're running a remote team or teams, in my case, I had different teams according to the service streams we were offering. I had managers or team leaders leading those teams separately. So there was a layer between me and my staff. But in saying that, those team leaders were very clear about.
who I was, how I operated, what my expectations were. And it wasn't a matter of cloning people to the degree of having little mini leases running around because that would be totally boring. But I think it's really about an appreciation for the skills that people bring and a respect for what they bring to the table and a trust that they're going to deliver on what they say they're going to deliver and they're going to honor my brand. So...
Rebecca (09:27.228)
Hehehe.
Lisa George (09:47.494)
I think that's the key. I've managed to engender this brand pride and this trust, this trusting relationship. And I really, I actually established that from the outset. So it was a very clear conversation with the staff member about the degree of trust that I impart and that I, and I basically say to them,
this is a relationship of trust. I'm trusting that you are going to not shit on my brand. You are going to be proud of who we are, what we do and the purpose in which we do that. And I have that expectation upfront. And I think that just sets a really clear line. Don't cross this line. Don't stuff with my brand sort of messaging. But also that...
people are adults, like if you treat them as adults and you expect that they're just gonna get on with the job, these people are professionals. So, you know, I really felt quite confident that the people I was taking on were people that could work remotely, they were able to do that, and that they were very proud of their own profession, of our profession as occupational therapists, very much keen to get really good outcomes for the people that they were working with. And so when we're...
united in our purpose, it works really well. You can develop that, like you've got that foundation of trust and I think it really does come down to communication. And then people have a full understanding. Just do not assume anything. That's, that's no, it's just, it's dangerous territory. You just can't assume.
Rebecca (11:36.167)
Never assume.
Lisa George (11:41.73)
And even if it sounds obvious and you feel like you're preaching to the converted, it's so much easier just to put it on the table and have that conversation up front than it is to assume and then try and put, you know, fix what's broken, I guess. Yeah, so that's how I operated. That's right, because that impacts your reputation as well.
Rebecca (11:58.09)
Yeah, you don't want it to break in the first place, right? Yeah.
Rebecca (12:05.838)
100%. So you've built Rementum Rehab on that model, right? On that remote team model, very successfully running with quite a large team. You're now packaging up your learnings and turning it into something that can help other organizations with remote working and remote teams under Remote Team Queen. How did that come about and why, and what are you hoping to offer to organizations when it comes to bringing on remote teams?
Lisa George (12:10.974)
Correct.
Lisa George (12:15.614)
Hmm.
Lisa George (12:27.935)
Hmm.
Lisa George (12:36.459)
I guess it's about, how it actually came about was obviously with COVID. People were thrust into a new world, a new way of working, the new world of work as I guess it's known. And more flexible ways of working were adopted in a big rush. It was really a shock to most organisations that this is how things needed to be done in a hurry in order to sustain business.
So in that process, there was a lot of confusion, excuse me, and there was a lot of chaos in implementation of this new way of working. And I thought to myself, I've been doing this for a long time and I think I've got it sorted, you know? I really feel like I've got something to offer these people who may be struggling with offering flexible ways of working. So I actually engaged
business mentor, Janine Garner, who we both have an association with. And she helped me work through the practicalities of launching into a new side business. And it was at a time when Momentum was struggling because we were in lockdown and we were unable to go and see people. We offer a mobile service, we go and see people in their homes.
Rebecca (13:39.616)
Yeah.
Lisa George (14:01.498)
And so we were essentially, we came, no, we couldn't do anything. We ground to a halt. So financially it was very difficult. But having said that, yeah.
Rebecca (14:01.838)
and you couldn't do any of that.
Yeah.
Rebecca (14:11.574)
which is a really interesting place to be in, right? Because you're running a remote team where people will go, oh, that's fine, you can still work remotely, but actually your business model was around a mobile service into people's homes, and so the impact of that would be quite massive.
Lisa George (14:22.682)
It was face-to-face because it's a health related business. You know, we had to have face-to-face contact. We could do a little bit by telehealth, but it really wasn't sustained. It wasn't anything we could really make a decent amount of money from. So it did impact the bottom line for Momentum. But I guess remote team work just became something that everyone was talking about. And I just thought, well, I've been doing this for so long. I really feel like I can offer.
assistance to people who are needing the help to lead their teams remotely or to offer more flexible work options, whether that be a hybrid work arrangement or a fully remote business, and to show that it can actually be done and it can be done successfully. And just to share, yeah, that the foundations and the models that I've developed of practice and the
and to help them just get the nuts and bolts right so that they don't have to make the mistakes that I made. Fast track, I guess. They don't need to take 20 years to get it right. Although I think I got it right a fair while ago. But you know what I mean. It's a learning curve. And the way we lead face to face is very different to how we lead.
Rebecca (15:26.038)
Yeah.
Rebecca (15:30.826)
That's a win.
Rebecca (15:35.776)
Yeah.
Lisa George (15:40.13)
when people aren't next to us in the next desk or the next office or what have you. So there's a level of intentionality around that. It's setting up the systems, it's setting up the expectations, it's setting up the comms. And it becomes very much about intentional engagement with your team. And I think it's very easy to get lazy in an office environment where you have the spontaneity and you've just got the passive interactions happening.
Rebecca (16:09.582)
Thank you.
Lisa George (16:09.854)
in order to create that trust, that communication, that engagement, that motivation. As a leader you need to be leading differently and I guess that's the edge I bring. It's teaching people how to do that.
Rebecca (16:27.358)
100%. And so in doing that and doing remote working and for our listeners who are going, okay, well, I might not be at a large, a lot of the members in the Champagne Lounge are small to medium business owners, right? Some of them may have a small team, some of them are going, I'm ready to take on team. Leading people, as you just said, in a remote scenario is so different to doing it in person. And so is there any like tips or guidance you can...
share now with someone that's looking to put a remote team together. Like what are they, what are the things that they should have in place before they even think about bringing someone on into their team remotely?
Lisa George (17:06.371)
I think it's really important that you have a very clear idea about who it is that you're taking on. I know that a lot of people have had to do this retrospectively, so they've had people in the office and now people want to be able to continue to work remotely. So there's probably two different scenarios. You've got the businesses that historically were face-to-face.
and we're forced to be remote. And then now they're pulling people back to the office and the team's saying, actually, no, we don't wanna do that. It's that there's that group of people. So that's leading people who weren't necessarily recruited for remote work. That requires a different style of management again. But in terms of if you're starting from scratch, which I was, then it's about recruiting the right type of person.
for the role that you're engaging them for. And again, that happens face to face as well. But I think when you've got a remote situation, you really need to be quite clear about the person's situation, how they're set up at home, whether they've got an office space dedicated to working, whether they're gonna be safe in their environment. You know, there's people who face all sorts of social risks, whether...
you know, ergonomically they're set up correctly so that you're not gonna walk into a workers' comp injury situation. You know, so there's a physical and there's psychological safety factors that you need to consider. But also you've got to make sure that you've got the right systems on board in terms of, you know, your cloud-based storage, database systems.
Rebecca (18:51.502)
processes. Yeah.
Lisa George (18:52.262)
Your communication systems, you need to have an understanding of how often you're going to connect with that person. They need to be clear on that so that they don't feel like they're being checked up on all the time. I call it checking in, not checking up. And I like, I like to be able to have that more casual interaction with people rather than, you know, that really, you know, performance-based discussions all of the time. I think it's really important to
to know your people and to know who they are as people, not just as a worker, just getting on and doing the work. I think when people feel seen, they feel heard, they feel valued, they feel understood, they think that you really do care about them and their situation and their lives and the blend with work and life. That creates loyalty, that creates trust.
And I've worked really, really hard to get to know each of my team so that they understand that I really do care about them as people. They're not just people that make money for me. They're people that I actually care about. And that's not to say that I put up with, you know, we don't have massive dramas in terms of, you know, I'm not their counselor. But they know that my...
virtual door is open and that if they're struggling with things, I'm approachable. And that I do trust that they're getting on with the job. So you need to have systems in place so that you can monitor that things are getting done. So sort of metrics, I guess, whatever works for you as a business. But I don't need to check up on people that they're working, they're sitting at their desks from 9 to 5. I look at the outcomes. I look at whether the...
Rebecca (20:43.266)
Yeah.
Lisa George (20:45.926)
whether the invoices are coming in, whether the customers are happy, whether I'm getting any complaints, I'm looking at the timeframes that things are getting done in. I've got metrics that I keep an eye on that tell me where the people are actually getting the job done. I don't need to be checking up on them, looking at keystrokes and making sure that they're physically on their computers. If they have to pop off and go to a school assembly, but they still get their job done at the end of the day, that's all I'm worried about.
And as long as they're responsive to my customers and they're getting back to people in a reasonable timeframe, people don't need to know that they're at a school assembly. They can, you know, people need to get on with their lives, but as long as the job is done at the end of the day, and my people understand that. And that's the culture I've developed, and I think it's worked really well.
Rebecca (21:16.834)
Yeah.
Rebecca (21:40.042)
I think that's phenomenal thing to sort of land on towards the end of this episode in terms of that whole trust factor, right? It's not, it's, it, there's a whole process to bringing on a remote team. And the teams we're talking about here are, you know, both employees and contractors. There is a whole process to be bringing them on with, but that element of, you do not need to be micromanaging people and to like just trust and build all those elements in so that they can live their life, have a really flexible work environment, and you're right at the end of the day, it's about the outcomes.
Lisa George (21:54.374)
Yep, correct.
Lisa George (22:04.059)
Yes.
Rebecca (22:10.386)
It's not about whether they're at their desk all the time. Um, and I love that that's the ethos that you're bringing within Remote Team Queen to help other organizations navigate that. Cause I know it's going to be so helpful to both the organizations and the individuals. And so anyone looking from a remote team perspective, I'm going to be linking all Lisa's links and resources to the show notes on this episode. Cause I know you have some gems there, um, that have been super helpful for me as well. I know we've known each other for a while. So.
Lisa George (22:31.966)
Thank you.
Rebecca (22:39.586)
Check out those links if you're bringing on any form of remote team. Um, Lisa, I don't let people leave the episode without asking them one of two questions. And today your question is you've talked very much around, um, the flexibility of the workspace, those conversations, those check-ins, that's something that the Champagne Lounge loves to offer its members in terms of the virtual meetups that we have that you can turn up to if you've got the time to. Uh, what is it about the Champagne Lounge that you love so much and why you're a member of it?
Lisa George (23:10.026)
I've really enjoyed the flexibility of it. There are other groups that I belong to that I often feel guilty if I don't turn up. And as we all know, life happens, you know, and I love the fact that there's different things throughout the week that I can pop into. I can't get to all three, or three or four, but I might get to one of those. And they're real connection points for me. They pull me back into a group.
where we celebrate our wins and our struggles and there's no judgment and there's support. And that's the thing I really love about the Champagne Lounge. It's relaxed, we have a few laughs, we bring our beverage of choice. I like my bubbles too, but I don't always bring them to those meetings. Might just have bubbly water sometimes, depending on what I'm about to do with the children.
Rebecca (23:56.918)
Hehehe
Rebecca (24:04.738)
Yeah. It doesn't have to be champagne. It doesn't.
Lisa George (24:07.282)
No, you don't need to bring champagne. And I guess that's the other thing I love about it, that it's inclusive for everyone in terms of your stage of business. You don't need to be an entrepreneur or you don't need to be Wonder Woman, but we all are Wonder Women in our own way. Oh, sorry, there's no. Yeah, so that's what I love about it. It's just easy. It's easy to pop in and...
Rebecca (24:32.686)
amazing.
Lisa George (24:35.026)
Yeah, I'd like to congratulate you on creating such a beautiful community.
Rebecca (24:40.058)
fame. That means a lot. That means a lot. And I love that the flexibility there is working. It's working for you. It's something that very much like when you started Momentum doing a remote thing, people have constantly asked me, but what do I get? What do I learn? I'm like, no, you just sort of come as though it's your lounge room or a local bar or a cafe, and you can just pop in and say hi. So yeah.
Lisa George (24:50.696)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa George (24:57.226)
Yeah, that's exactly what it is. It's a casual chat. It's, you know, you just, how are you going? What are you struggling with? What are your wins? And it's just a lovely, lovely group of women that just celebrate each other. And that's beautiful.
Rebecca (25:12.27)
Thank you. And we love having you as part of it. And we love showcasing you on today's episode of the podcast. So thank you so much for joining me.
Lisa George (25:17.29)
Thank you, Becca. Thank you. It's been wonderful.
Rebecca (25:22.37)
There we go.
